|
| Nicole Sullivan on Less Than Perfect. |
Nicole Sullivan guest starred on the ABC sitcom Less Than Perfect recently, and I'm not afraid to admit that yours truly wasn't in the best form for this event. Since Ms. Sullivan's departure from Mad TV, I have stopped watching that show, and there is not any current network TV show that I watch on a regular basis, period. I've had a chance to sample what's available, and it doesn't look like I'm missing much, anyway. My current TV viewing consists of reruns of The Prisoner (now airing locally on channel 13), Wall Street Week on CNBC (most of the time), and an occassional MacGyver rerun on TV Land. I haven't kept up with the TV news that much; thus I am more or less out of the loop. But as part of ABC's revamped Tuesday night lineup, Less Than Perfect, which premiered this season, got a reasonable amount of publicity in the fall, so I wasn't completely clueless. Apparently, the show is about a pudgy office temp (played by Sara Rue) who gets promoted from the basement typing pool to become personal assistant to a news anchor (played by Eric Roberts, who may finally get a chance to purge himself of the stigma of being Julia Roberts' less famous brother). There's two Machiavellian co-workers (played by Zachary Levi and Andrea Parker) to act as foils, trying to sabotage our hero at every move. There's also two co-workers from the basement typing pool (played by Sherri Shepherd and Andy Dick) with whom Claude (Rue) is still friends. It must be getting decent ratings; otherwise it would have been cancelled by now. To give you an idea of how out-of-touch I am, when Dick first appeared on screen, I said to myself, "that guy looks like Andy Dick." Only later did I discover that he was Andy Dick. Sorry, but I hadn't followed his career since Newsradio, although I think there was a short-lived cable series somewhere along the line.
The face that I didn't realize that the character of Owen is played by Dick is particularly ironic, since the "Valentine's Day" episode in which Ms. Sullivan appears revolves around a sexual liason between her character (an office supply rep) and Owen. They meet for the first time and seemingly hit it off - more specifically, she is all over Owen like a cheap suit. She convinces him to take a sperm test. Claude and Ramona get suspicious. They confront Owen's new girlfriend, who confides that her motive is to get impregnated. She chose Owen because he has good genetic stock and has an "above average" sperm count. Claude heads over to Owen's apartment, and seemingly convinces him to terminate the relationship - it seems that Owen never knew his biological father, so the fact that he is being used as a male stud is a sensitive issue with him - but ultimately the lure of guilt-free sex proves too great a temptation.
 |
| Another vidcap from Less Than Perfect. |
This episode was surprisingly strong. When I screened it, I had fairly low expectations. The claims of some critics that Less Than Perfect is groundbreaking because it features two full-figured women notwithstanding, the show is not particularly original. The "rags-to-riches" theme has been done before, and this is not the first (or last) workplace comedy. Nevertheless, the dialogue was rather snappy. In the process of preparing this web page, I rescreened the episode to get some screen captures, and at several points I fell into the trap of just watching the episode, something which rarely occurs. It doesn't hurt that the producers have assembled a strong ensemble cast, including veterans Roberts and Dick. Andrea Parker as the supercilious Lydia gets some scintillating dialogue as one of Claude's main adversaries.
And what about Ms. Sullivan's role? She plays the role of uberbitch to the hilt, a role which she has honed with considerable skill in similar guest appearances on other shows. Those fans who have watched with some dismay her recent appearances on King Of Queens (in which her character Holly rarely gets significant screen time or even good dialogue) will find cause for celebration, since it gives some indication of what she is capable of accomplishing with a more significant role and with better dialogue. [The recent King Of Queens Valentine's Day episode is an exception to the rule, with the show's "B" plot revolving around her character.] While this episode will do little more than keep her career in a holding pattern, it proved worth watching. And while I've seemingly been cured of whatever jones I had for network television, it proved that even a cynic such as myself can occassionally crack a smile while watching a network television sitcom.
Video clips (in QuickTime 4.0
format):